According to the Napa Valley Register, he was a 36 year-old member of The Pathway Program for vets with emotional trauma, but was discharged from treatment two weeks ago.

SWAT teams were scrambled after cops received reports of the incident, with the shooter barricaded in the compound’s Pathway Madison building.

The facility has been locked down, and it is not yet known if anyone has been injured.

Resident David Ferguson told the Register the incident was ‘crazy,’ asking, ‘What’s a gunman doing here? It’s a bunch of old farts.

‘Most of the people around here are in their 80s and 90s and have a walker, wheelchair or a scooter.’

Another eyewitness said the gunman slipped into a party and let some people leave, before taking others hostage.

The facility was locked down after the shooting (Fox News)The facility is home to at least 1,000 veterans, with reports that the black-clad man turned up in body armor before he began shooting (AP)The sprawling facility in Yountsville, near Napa, comprises multiple buildings, with Friday’s hostage taking reported to have happened in an area housing younger vets (Google Maps)

The Veterans Home of California-Yountville was founded in 1884.

The facility is the largest veterans’ home in the United States, offering services to more than 1,000 aged or disabled veterans.